Arson police are set to investigate a property in Melbourne’s West after a woman was killed in a house fire overnight.
Firefighters were called to Dover St in Truganina where they found a three-storey townhouse engulfed in flames about 2.14am.
Crews attempted to conduct a search of the home but were limited by the intensity of the fire.
A woman was found dead at the scene, but she is yet to be formally identified.
Fire Rescue Victoria battled the blaze for more than two hours, bringing the fire under control at about 4.30am.
The building still remained too hot for fire crews to enter in the hours after.
A Fire and Rescue spokesperson said the blaze had caused a partial structural collapse in the building.
‘The incident is being treated as suspicious, and the scene was handed to Victoria Police,’ the spokesperson said.
Fire crews worked through the morning to contain a house fire that has left one woman dead
Arson police have begun investigating the cause of the fire, and set up a crime scene at the town house
Police established a crime scene at the property.
Arson chemists are set to further investigate the cause of the fire.
The Herald Sun reported a nearby resident was in her backyard about 2am when she heard loud, consecutive bangs.
‘It sounded like fireworks,’ Fatima Dibb said.
Ms Dibb claimed she could see flames rising high above the town house’s roof.
‘The roof was fully engulfed. It was ferocious.’
‘It was quite distressing – knowing there might be people in there.’
A community advice warning was issued for smoke in the immediate area.
Police have appealed for anybody with information to come forward by contacting Crime Stoppers.
More to come.
One local said she heard loud bangs after 2am and saw the home engulfed in flames
